


Echoes

by The_knight_of_the_stars



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts, is not all drama I promise, spoiler: is very gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25621861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_knight_of_the_stars/pseuds/The_knight_of_the_stars
Summary: The children of the isle, and the children of Auradon, are now lost and alone in an unknown world.Can they remember the truth? Can they remember who they really are? Is it possible for them to find their way back home?All they have left, are the echoes from another life...
Relationships: Audrey Rose/Uma (Disney), Aziz & Jay (Disney), Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Mal (Disney), Gil/Harry Hook/Uma, Gil/Jay (Disney: Descendants), Harry Hook/Uma, Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Uma

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! My mother language is´n english, so, if you see any mistake on the text, please let me know

His large, calloused hand slowly caressed her cheek. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, the wood smell of his clothes. How sweet it felt to be around him. Hot specks of ash flew around them, amid a thunderous sound of revolts, screams, some crackling fire. It looked like the end of the world. Through a haze, she blurred a pair of blue eyes full of melancholy, a sadness weighing on him.  
"Come on Hook, I'll always be a step away from you, " she said in a voice she didn't recognize.  
"I know, we are light from the same star, right?" His deep voice slipped from his lips, tears streaming down his dirty face. Behind him, a pulsing red light blinded them, giving the young man the mythical appearance of a fiery creature. He leaned in, bringing their foreheads together in a desperate attempt to feel her close one last time "Goodbye, Uma ..."

Her eyes snapped open, her heart pounded. His words still echoed in her head, she still felt that suffocating heat, the chaotic sensation, and the sadness that vision had caused her. It had been brief, but still, she felt like she had been sleeping for days like she didn't think she would ever be able to wake up. But now the cold of the undaunted room made her hair stand on end and reminded her that it had all been a dream. She blinked several times, barely realizing she was clinging tightly to the sheets, making sure she had returned to reality. She put her hand to her heart and felt it pounding and excited. It felt alive. "I miss you," she thought, closing her eyes to that strange and familiar feeling, "Even if I don't know who you are."  
Uma watched the snowfall through the grimy window and found that just as it had happened every day in that dead tundra, the sun had not risen. In that forgotten corner of fleeting feelings, only the gloom remained. Without fire, without chaos, there was no one by her side. Her breath resonated on the icy upholstered walls as if floating in the heavy silence that only abandoned houses have, that sad emptiness of having had and have lost. She got up from the bed.

But of course, Uma couldn't remember ever having anything. That loss was all she knew. All that remained inside her, like a luminous lamppost guiding her, was the hope that one day she would be able to recover everything she had lost. She walked through the lonely house, her long blue hair falling like soft clouds over her naked body, two small front braids, eternally tied, from which hung small amulets whose meanings she did not know. Only the heavy wool blanket that had wrapped her up during the night covered her.  
Just like every day, Uma went to the small kitchen, lit the oil lamps, and started to heat the tea. Outside, the wind whistled, and as she cracked two eggs on a frying pan, the heat of the kitchen reminded her of her dream. Fire, ash, the musty smell of gunpowder and blood, the boy with blue eyes. That was her dream. Over and over, that vision haunted her at night. He had lost count of how many times she had had that same dream, always the same, always leaving her with that feeling that she did not understand, but could not get rid of. "I miss you".  
Something inside Uma told her that there was a reason why it felt so real, why it kept popping up in her mind. It was more than a dream, it was a memory. But she couldn't be sure, Uma wasn't sure about anything. As far as she knew, that exciting memory could only be an invention of her mind.

In town, they called her a witch. They said that magic had destroyed her mind, and that was why she did not remember who she was. Maybe they were right. Maybe that sad-eyed boy she called "Hook" wasn't real, it was just magic confusing her mind. As Uma ate her breakfast, listening in the distance to the howling laughter of the forest elves, she couldn't help but feel once again disappointed that the dream hadn't changed. Why couldn't she remember more? She sipped her tea and tried to forget about it.  
\-----------------------------------------------------  
The last fishermen of the town began to gather their nets with slow and tired movements. It had been a long day. Uma said goodbye to them with a kiss thrown into the air, as was the tradition, and they responded in the same way, thanking her for the help and hard work. The dogs surrounded her amid joyous barking, and she had to dodge them laughing, as she walked away carrying her own basket overflowing with fish. In front of her stood the messy mound of windows, balconies, doors, and chimeneas. Uma had always thought that those particular tower-towns so common in the northern lands, looked like a tree made of houses stuck together. An oasis by the sea, a refuge from that mysterious, cold, and hostile land.  
She entered the city swinging her basket, she knew perfectly the path between that maze of stairs. Here, the air was different, it smelled of bread, sweat, coal, human heat. It was more joyous, more comforting. Uma found the company she needed just by seeing the townspeople in their daily life while continuing to climb to the top. Boys hauling lumber, up alleys with the day's game on their backs, people on balconies spreading clothes, shaking rugs, or lighting lanterns. She paused for a moment, daring to look back, to see the huge sea from above.

Up there, where she was at the height of the birds flying and the trees seemed tiny, Uma stopped feeling so alone. Up there, among the wind, the heat, the flowers in the windows, the amber lights in the houses, and the noise of the people, even if it was only for an instant, Uma could almost feel normal, like someone loved, like someone human. And that was precisely what had motivated her to dream of one day, to be able to raise enough money to buy a little house in the highest part of town, where she could wake up every day in the midst of that joyous daily life, where she could finally feel that she was someone.

Finally, Uma reached her destination. She entered the narrow, candlelit establishment and approached the counter. She put the basket on the floor, and a skinny girl came out from the back.  
"Uma! How are you? How are things going down there on the plain?" The girl greeted her with a charming smile. Uma shrugged, returning the smile.

" Hi Ruba, you know, cold as always ... I brought fish" replied Uma, smiling fondly at the girl in the store.

"I see they had good fishing today, right?" Ruba looked at her excitedly, and Uma only answered with her head "Well! How much do you want for it? It looks very good, how about 60 coins?" 

"Are you crazy? Your mother would kill me if she finds out you gave me that much money" said Uma, laughing slightly. The girl from the store smiled, pleased to see her happy, and handed her a bag of fifty coins on the counter.

"Come on, take them, " Ruba said with a wink. "My mother doesn't have to know ..." Uma laughed again, slightly flushed.

"If you insist" she answered taking the bag and weighing it on her hand with pride. Ruba sighed with a huge smile.

"You know? I don't even think mother notices ... She is too busy licking a foreigner's boots" Ruba whispered with an amused tone "They say he came from the warm lands of the south and we are renting him my brother's room, you should have seen his face, He is furious to have to sleep on the kitchen floor, but he had no choice ..."

"He comes from the warm lands?" Asked Uma intrigued "And how is he?"

"Well, he is tall and handsome ... He's tanned, you know, like the people of the South ... He came on the train dressed as a prince with a ruffled suit and a suitcase full of wonders ..." Ruba explained with bright eyes of emotion "I'm sure he would love to meet you!"

"Me? Why?"

"Because you are a witch, you are the best that´s ever happened in this boring town ..."

"Thank you?"

"Oh, I almost forgot! I wanted to give you something… " Ruba said happily and took out from the folds of her dress a small wrapped package.

"To me?" Uma asked, surprised, and happy. No one had given her a gift since her teacher had died.

"The stranger brought us gifts from the south, you know, for letting him stay, and I thought why not give one to my favorite witch?" Ruba admitted, blushing a little. Uma smiled gratefully and took Ruba's hand in a happy squeeze.

"Thank you, Ruba, for everything ... You are the best friend I have made in this town ..." answered Uma, delicately keeping the gift in its folds. Ruba smiled from ear to ear.  
"And you are mine, Witch ..."  
\-----------------------------------------------------------  
Night fell, heavy and freezing on the plain. By the time Uma returned home, the darkness was almost absolute. Despite carrying a flashlight, she had to tap the walls for a long time to find the door. When she entered, the wall of enchanted tapestries greatly lessened the cold and the furious roar of the night wind. As soon as the door closed behind her, Uma dropped to the floor, exhausted, looking at the small hall of the house. Silence, again that deadly silence. With ragged breathing, she decided that she would stay there until her muscles relaxed, and she leaned against the wall, staring blankly, imagining not having to go back to that empty and distant house every day. She took off her coat, brushing dust and snow from her hair. In her pocket, she felt the small wrapped package that Ruba had given her, and Uma smiled again as she took it out. A gift from the south.

What wonders could come from those lands? Uma couldn't even imagine it. That northern land had been all she knew, all that interested her. That was what her teacher, the witch Aida, had taught her. Five years had passed since the villagers had found her, so cold and pale, that they had thought she was a corpse. They said that she came from the sea during a stormy night, an unconscious body that the waves threw to the beach. Villagers had given her a two-day funeral and attempted to bury her in an unmarked grave. But when the first earth fist was placed on her, she woke up. The frightened villagers took her with the only person in miles around who knew about the mysterious affairs of the world: Aida, the old witch of the forest.  
Before that, Uma had no memories. She didn't know who she was, what she was, or where she came from. She only remembered the sea, the lightning, and the feeling of having lost something. Old Aida had taken her, cared for her, fed her, healed her wounds. She was the one who helped Uma overcome the shock and discovered that she knew how to speak, write, knew about the things of the world. But she still didn't know anything about herself. "You are a witch," her teacher had told her. "I can feel your magic, you probably got into forces that you shouldn't have, and this is the price you must pay. " After six months, Uma began to dream about the blue-eyed boy. And because of that dream, that memory, Uma was able to remember her name. Aida tried spells to make her remember more but never succeeded, and all Uma was left with was that fuzzy image of a world on fire.

Aida was a traditional woman, who during the time she met her taught her to rejoice in the little things in life, to cook, to attract fish, to become human again. And a year ago the old woman had died, sitting in her chair, leaving Uma with one last lesson to learn: how to survive alone. And Uma had learned, hunting her food and selling the fish that she trapped to the town's merchants, little by little, learning to make friends, to be kind to people, to trust them. Rarely did Uma think of the possibility that the world existed beyond that frozen region, that magic-filled forest, and that sparkling sea.  
Uma untied the laces of Ruba's gift, thinking about her teacher, for the first time wondering if, in other lands, she could stop feeling the emptiness that consumed her inside.  
She unwrapped the slip of paper, and a gold ring fell into her open hand. As soon as the metal touched her skin, Uma felt a jolt that shook her heart, like an electric shock that tore out the air, while in her head the vision of the boy with blue eyes appeared again, and his voice repeating the same words in an infinite cycle "We are light from the same star".

"Harry ..." she whispered as if her soul was breathing for the very first time "I remember you ..."


	2. Carlos

He stood still, listening intently to the faint creak of footsteps on the foamy floor. Taking advantage of the loud squawking of some bird, he changed his position slightly without being noticed, again becoming as still as a rock. His watchful, watchful eyes were the only thing that moved, and he followed his path, slipping silently through the trees. His instincts told him that something strange was watching him, but he couldn't perceive it with his senses. So he looked sideways, and continued, step by step, nimbly mixing the sound of his footsteps with the collective noise of insects, birds, water, and trees. The creature knew how to move among the thick leaves of the plants, jumping between the lianas to gain ground, he was a master of deception, agile and fast. But not enough.  
The net fell suddenly from above, thrown so quickly that the creature only noticed when the mesh brushed against its nose. He felt the footsteps, soft and lurking like those of a Jaguar approaching him, and he knew he was lost. Enraged, the creature stomped on the ground in a cry of frustration that echoed throughout the jungle.

" Shit! " exclaimed the creature.

From the highest of the trees, a shadow descended, lightly touching the ground like a feather, without making a sound. Around him, the air became cooler, as the shadow approached, and the creature could finally see it better. Thin, not too tall, a light feather tunic covering his pale skin, a group of green dragonflies and blue butterflies fluttered over his shoulder, settling on his skin as if it were just another trunk. The creature watched him curiously and found that as the stories told, a gray mud mask covered his face, leaving only two deep, sweet brown eyes exposed.

" Shit ... " said the creature again " Hey, magic boy, couldn't you at least wait until I gave it a bite? "exclaimed the creature.

" Sorry, but I can't let you go, my friends spent all afternoon baking that bread, " said Carlos, with a voice like a tender whistle behind the mask. The creature, which was actually a goblin, scratched its pointy ears, annoyed.

" In the name of the moon, you even sound like those insufferable fairies. Don't you get tired of yourself? " Said the goblin snorting. Under the mask, Carlos laughed.

" Come on, just hand me the bag and I'll let you go ... " he replied in a happy voice. The goblin folded his arms, clenching his mouth evasively.

" So ... you're the queen's new idiot, right? " Exclaimed the goblin, approaching the boy in the mask threateningly, without letting the fact that he was as small as a mango discourage him "Why do you wear a mask? I bet you are so ugly that is why the humans kicked you out… "

"You can insult me as much as you want, we will stay here until you give me the bag"

"By the spirits! Don't you have something better to do? " the goblin sighed, kicking the ground in fury. Carlos sat on the ground, leaning against a tree.

"No, the truth is this is the only thing I want to be doing" he replied, and the goblin snorted, he could feel the boy smile under the mask.

The goblin dropped to the ground, he felt that his pride had been hurt. He sighed in annoyance, and finely wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled a woven bag from his clothes. He thrust his little hand inside and usurped an ancient spell. Carlos slowly raised his head, and watched fascinated, he had always wanted to witness the mythical magic of the goblins. A couple of fantastic sparks, like multi-colored stars that lit up the goblin's robust face. Its particular light reminded Carlos of the way comets seemed to throb when viewed through the temple telescope, and a sigh of admiration escaped his lips. A sight of the wind and the bag of bread appeared before them.

"Done, are you happy now? get me out of here, I don't have all day" exclaimed the goblin. Carlos approached, with a small white dagger in his hands, and cut the ties of the net. Carlos took the bag, and the goblin came out of the net, shaking his head, cursing under his breath. Just as he was about to turn his back on the boy, Carlos stopped him. The goblin looked at Carlos puzzled, while Carlos offered him one of the loaves of bread with his hand.

Carlos removed his mask with a relieved sigh, revealing his freckled, smiling face, his cheeks reddened by the heat of the jungle.

"Thanks for cooperating," Carlos said, putting the bread over his small hands. The goblin accepted the gift, looking Carlos up and down.

"Thanks to you ... or whatever ..." replied the goblin, sighing, and Carlos smiled, he could feel that now the goblin's anger was faked.

\-------------------------------------------------- ------ -------------------------------------

Carlos looked ahead, and not far from him he was able to see the first towers of the city, standing out among the foliage. He quickened his pace, motivated by the sound of the fair voices of the fairies, the smell of food, the whistling of the bells on the wall. As he got closer, his friends, the dragonflies and butterflies of the deep jungle, stopped accompanying him, intimidated by the noise of the city, and Carlos said goodbye, promising them that they would see each other again. With the bread bag in his hand, he started running, feeling a slight breeze cooled his face, feeling flying through the trees, planning with feathers of his robe.

He was accompanied by the incessant singing of the jungle. The hundreds of different birds that chirped and whistled each to their own melody, the occasional screaming of monkeys, the laughter of fairies, the insects sucking from all directions, the bubbling in the cauldrons of the goblins, water running from some river, and a thousand other mysterious sounds that he still couldn't quite decipher. At first, that confused roar of sounds frightened him, gave him the feeling that he was in constant danger, that something was always lurking. He had had to learn to trust the unknown, to become friends with the hidden shadows. And now he felt the jungle as his friend, his protector, he trusted it, and now its singing reminded him that he was not alone.

Finally, Carlos saw the city of fairies in front of him. He entered the main causeway, where the smooth grassy path led to high ground where stone walls carved with a thousand sacred drawings towered, alongside gleaming towers that seemed to caress the sky with their points, the roofs decorated with stained glass, climbing plants that cascaded from high white balconies. The crystalline water currents that ran through the aqueducts went from ceiling to ceiling to the lagoons of the central square. A fortified palace with the smell of incense, bread, and meat.

Carlos walked through the city gates with a smile, and the fairy artisans greeted him from their workshops like an old friend. He raised his face and saw the construction fairies flying around the towers, decorating the windows with bells and flowers. They were preparing the city for the full moon party. On top of the royal balconies, he distinguished the fairy priestesses singing as they made their way to the astronomy tower.

A voice made him turn his head.

"Carlos!"

Carlos looked in the direction of the voice and smiled. A fairy boy came running up with a huge smile.

"Suti" Carlos replied, hugging his friend tightly and resting his head on his shoulder. In greeting, Suti kissed hir forehead with enthusiasm.

"Where were you? I've been looking for you for hours! " said the boy fairy as they separated. Carlos replied with a proud smile, holding up the bag of bread in front of Suti.

"Do you remember the bread that the goblins stole from you? Guess who went to the jungle to retrieve it? "

"You did not ...!" Suti exclaimed, taking the bread excitedly.

"Oh yes I did"

"Thank you so much, Carlos! You truly are a blessing! " Suti hugged Carlos again, completely happy, and Carlos could smell the sweet perfume of the body oils on his skin. Only until then did Carlos realize that he was dressed in his ceremonial costume, and his long pale pink hair was braided and decorated with flowers.

"I see you're ready for the party," said Carlos, looking at his friend with a shy smile.

"Well, I wanted to look good ... Today they will put on my tattoos! Can you believe it?" Suti exclaimed in a cool laugh "How do I look?"

Carlos smiled awkwardly, blushing, and looked down, embarrassed by how much he liked seeing his friend. He swallowed.

"You look ... beautiful" he admitted raising his eyes to see Suti's hopeful gaze "You ... well ... you are beautiful ... always ... you know ..."  
Suti responded to his babble with a blushing laugh.

"You look beautiful too, Carlos"

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, Carlos sat on the cool terrace of his house, watching the fairies dressed in party gowns run down the alleys, dancing in the joyous frenzy of the full moon. The thunderous sound of flutes, bells, and drums echoed throughout the jungle. Carlos looked up at the sky, wishing that the moon would take the heavy load that he carried in his heart. He had left the celebration early, staying only long enough to see how Suti's entire body and face were marked with the sacred hieroglyphics of fairies, symbolizing that in front of their fellow men, he had already reached maturity. Carlos had congratulated his friend, had danced and drank by his side for most of the night, but he could not stay until dawn, a bleak feeling pressed against his chest.

Carlos had watched the slow process to mark the drawings on Suti's skin step by step, marveled at the care and affection they put into each step of that ritual that was almost as old as the fairies themselves. He could see from the moved face of Suti how much meaning each of these symbols held, they were the legacy of their ancestors, they were how he honored and remembered them, the way in which he promised to take his teachings every day with him, both in the flesh and in the heart.

Carlos could only dream of ever having something like that. Have something to hold on to. As much as Carlos loved fairies and considered them his family, he was not one of them, and he knew it. And there was nothing Carlos wanted more in the world than to belong somewhere. Maybe that's why he could not get rid of the sadness he felt every night and that made him shed tears in the moonlight, wishing he knew where he came from, wishing to know if beyond the jungle, somewhere, someone had loved him. In the depths of his heart, Carlos knew that he had had a family, despite not remembering them. He knew it through a thought that settled in his dreams over and over again.

Almost every night, Carlos dreamed. He saw himself in the middle of the night jungle, while three stars, bright and luminous, floated around him, making him laugh. He felt safe, he felt happy. But after a while the stars, one by one, faded and disappeared, leaving him alone in the midst of darkness. And he heard himself cry in the shadows saying: "Come back ... please ... come back ... Where are you?" It was then when he woke up, trembling, with the feeling of loss still in his heart, of which no matter how hard he tried, he could never get rid.

The Fairy-Queen had welcomed him as one of their own since the day Suti had found him, almost four years ago, wild and confused, dirty, full of wounds and scratches, tucked between the tops of trees like a bird leaping through the branches. They met by accident, when Suti stabbed an arrow into his shoulder, thinking he was a demon. Repenting, he had healed him and taken him to the city so he could recover, where the fairy doctors filled his wounds with healing mud and fed him, realizing he was so malnourished it was a mystery how he was alive. And it wasn't long before the queen found out that one of his students had brought a human into town.

"Oh, dear boy… why have yours abandoned you?" she had heard the queen say the first time she visited him, still lying in the doctors' bed, unable to move, unable to answer.  
The memories before that day were a confused haze that he had not yet been able to unravel. He kept in his mind mere fragments of days and nights in the terrifying solitude of the jungle. A constant stream of confusion and darkness, in which he could only be guided by his oldest instincts. Running, jumping, absorbed in a constant frenzy of fear, in which he was only able to perceive the sound of his heart beating, the constant feeling of panic and sadness. He did not know how much time he had spent alone in the jungle, surviving how he could, he did not know at what point he had arrived there, he did not remember where he came from, or who he had been before that. It was only when the fairies welcomed him and offered him a place in the queen's court, did Carlos begin to feel that he could become something.

That was how he became the Queen's best hunter, doing jobs for her in exchange for a house and a position as an apprentice in the Temple of the Stars. And that was what Carlos was most interested in. He could spend hours in that tower with the priestesses, observing the stars through the monumental crystal telescope, listening to them, the way they told him each cycle of the stars, each movement of the planets, telling him the mysteries of that unknown universe. Reading parchment after parchment of ancient legends, heroic adventures, and ancient predictions in the library. And only through them was he able to learn about his own, about the humans. Only through them did he understand his regrets, his own fears, and contradictions, the passions, instincts, and dreams that he kept within.  
Day after day, step by step, he learned to understand the sadness in his heart, the fear of being abandoned, the irrevocable feeling that he had been looking for something, for someone. It was then that he knew that those emotions came from somewhere, from his life before that life. He had had a family, and at some point, he had lost it. And once he understood them, Carlos turned his emotions into his greatest weapon. He transformed his sadness into motivation, his fear into strength, and his loss into curiosity. Perhaps that was what allowed him to understand when his feelings for his friend Suti flourished, and they became something much more intimate, deep, carnal. Something beautiful, scary, and uncontrollable.

Carlos looked towards the square, where he could distinguish Suti dancing with veils tied in his hands, without being able to remove from his chest the feeling that it was not the first time that he fell in love, wishing he could remember it. He allowed himself to smile, evoking the feel of Suti's arms around his body, the sparkle in his eyes, the soft sound of his laughter. And without realizing it, he began to evoke another person.

Other eyes of a deep dark, another dark face lit by fire, a boy with long black hair who took his hand and made him run across a battlefield, between screams, chaos, and despair. He snapped back to reality, so suddenly that he almost fell off the edge of the screen. His heart was racing and tears were in his eyes, he had never felt so awake. A piece of the puzzle had been returned to him, and a name appeared in his mind, as once again showing him the way through the disaster.

"Jay ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Thank you for reading eveyone!  
> Please let me know what you think so far, or what would you like to to see happen.  
> Love you guys for reading so far!


	3. Audrey

Audrey opened her eyes, her heart pounding. She blinked slowly, coming back to reality, her hands shaking. It was the middle of the night, and like every night, she woke up from the same old dream. She fell and fell through the darkness until it hit the ground. Boom! She was in her bed again, in the gloom, the wind blowing through the recesses, whistling beneath her. In the distance, the joyous murmur of the lunar witches could still be heard, singing soft ballads so as not to forget the appearance of the sky. She brushed the fluffy strands of hair from her face, rubbing her arms at the sudden cold that enveloped her. Her old pajama did not seem enough, she was breathing hard, still feeling that the hammock would stretch and the floor would disappear at any moment, letting her fall back into that endless abyss.  
She hugged herself, repeating in her mind over and over that it had only been a dream, it hadn't been real. She only wanted to hear the soft, rhythmic sound of her own heart, but someone else's beating reached her ears. She looked out, beyond the entrance of the Tend, and saw her companions asleep, each in his nest of blankets here and there, cuddle in large holes in the walls, supported on the heights cobwebs network, recumbents over the wood roofs of the shops, or like her, refugees within a closed colorful Tend hanging from the ceiling like a large bell. She looked at them from above, listening to their breaths in the strange silence of the early morning, almost instinctively beginning to whistle to the rhythm of the witches, who began to sing the same ancient song that they had sung for generations.

_Mothers of the old world, hear our song_   
_Fathers of the old world, hear our song_   
_And tell me a story about the world_   
_And the reason for everything that has been lost_   
_Tell me the story of magic and death_   
_And why the world should never forget_   
_You will never go too far away_   
_There are thousands of voices whispering in the air_

The hum of their instruments filled the night air with a particular, comforting, warm nostalgia, like sunlight streaming in through the window, like butter melting on bread, like jovial laughter and splashing children. It was sweet, kind, music that hugged you and made you feel safe. Audrey sank into the blankets, hearing the song repeat itself over and over again in the distance, accompanied by the crackle of the campfires, and let the mysterious magic of that music keep her company. She closed her eyes, trying not to think about her dream.  
She couldn't fall asleep.

"Audrey" whispered a voice in the echo of The Hall.  
She raised her head, the cold wind from above whistling in her ear. "Audrey ..." the voice repeated.

She looked down, and from above she saw Octavius, the leader of the moon warlocks, watching her from ground level with merry eyes. Octavius waved his hands, inviting her down. Audrey grinned from ear to ear. Excited, she pulled her old red plush coat over her shoulders and tossed her long tangled hair back. Her strong, scratchy hands gripped the cobweb of ropes with familiar dexterity, swinging between the braided threads, one step at a time, descending like a monkey from her little house on top. When she was close enough to the ground, she jumped, and Octavius caught her in his sturdy arms. Audrey gave a fresh laugh, holding onto Octavius's shoulders to keep from falling.

"Hi pretty eyes," Audrey said in a happy whisper. Octavius smiled enthusiastically at her, gently placing Audrey's feet on the ground.

  
"Hello, my beautiful rose" Octavius replied.

The morning was cool and quiet. Through the brightness dim and golden fires of warlocks, The Hall was distinguished, as seething of life as it was at the light of day, but for now, in the throbbing stillness of its inhabitants asleep, its energy was momentarily appeased. At that particular hour, with the warming chants of the witches and the ceiling glass beginning to glow faintly, the colossal columns and cracked vaults that made up The Hall did not seem so gloomy. Every tiny sound, every breath was amplified like guttural songs of ancient ghosts echoed between the enormous walls and millenary rocky outcrops.

  
At the top, skimming the massive dome of gigantic mosaics, the cool, damp wind from the aqueducts hissed and grated like the painful wail of a wounded creature. The spectral buzzing of the ropes and slats slid like insects between the suspension bridges linking nest after nest of houses suspended from the top, under hammocks that swayed in the cobweb, down between the poorly laid boards of the tents, and between the dark alleys littered with lost and found objects, to the dark tunnels that ran out in all directions, disappearing into the depths of the ceiling, floor and walls, giving it the appearance of a giant honeycomb.

  
The Salon, who had once been a majestic cathedral built by the giants of yesteryear, was now the refuge of the Outcast. Buried deep underground, under meters and meters of rock and earth by thousands of years of rain and erosion, the walls now intermingled with the cave wall, the cracks were filled with glowing minerals, and the roofs were beginning to fill with stalactites and black stains of damp that consumed the walls.  
It formed a chamber of colossal proportions, now bored from all angles and directions by vast tunnels that were lost in a labyrinth of caves and dark passageways that had not seen the light of day in thousands of years, in which they congregated to living the forgotten by the world, in cloth shops, junk markets, huts built out of rubbish, game rooms and inns carved out of the rock, oil lanterns hanging from the walls, colorful flags from side to side of the roads, wagons witch and carriages of ancient nobles now used to house congregations of people around campfires, musicians of crazy instruments playing sitting anywhere, taverns of bright walls of dry lava, between odors of the most eccentric food, spices, and the merchants' rugs, boiling like an anthill.

  
This was the so-called lower city, and right in the center of it was the Hall, into which all the passageways led. A small town built in a haphazard and surreal way. Houses of stone and wood of all shapes and sizes were huddled together like a heap of irregular tiles, forming crooked alleys, or built along the entire length of the walls supported by large beams, with windows and balconies that the inhabitants opened wide. throughout the day, or terraces attached to the wall where lovers spent the day lying on rugs. The columns, which still preserved the incomprehensible engravings of the giants, still held the remnants of the ceiling with enormous force, where the colossal mosaics formed drawings of kings and warriors.

Over the surface of the city, a series of rope ladders, suspension bridges, and gigantic nets hung side by side throughout the airspace of the Salon, from which hung nests, beds, and small tents, supported by the ropes as colorful ornaments. A second city hanging over the roofs of the houses.

That was Audrey's home. To her, the outside world was a mere blurry memory, she hadn't surfaced in years, and she liked it that way. This chaotic underworld comforted her, gave her a sense of security, made her more courageous. She loved the dim, shaky lights from the ceilings, the hundreds of different shops, the smell of incense from the tunnels, the smoke from the food stalls, the translucent and colorful minerals that protruded from the rock, the fluorescent mushrooms that grew on the wood walls from the houses, the song of the water running through the aqueducts, bringing water to the entire city. She even liked it like that, at night, with most of the lights off and the dead silence of the curfew.

  
As they walked through the dark and silent alleys, Audrey turned to see Octavius's serene face.  
"Couldn't you sleep?" he asked her with a half-smile. Audrey shrugged.  
"I just had a bad dream" she replied with a sigh. Octavius put his arm around her shoulders, in a friendly gesture to comfort her.

  
They turned around and came to the quarter of the moon witches. The wagons formed a circle around the fires, which rose smelly with food and incense. In small or large groups the lunar witches and warlocks congregated, with their leather jackets, their sleeveless tops, and their feathered hairstyles. They all wore their faces covered in white makeup and black frets, all joined in humble joy, churning casks of stew, slicing bright mushrooms, serving drinks, playing instruments, playing sleight of hand, talking, dancing, or singing. Children ran around laughing, blowing up banners and ribbons made of old clothes. Audrey opened her coat, feeling the heat from the campfires take away the cold.

"Well luckily for you, today we stayed up all night," Octavius said enthusiastically "We can keep you company" Audrey smiled gratefully.

"Thank you" she replied, looking excitedly at a group of young witches who were playing dice with huge laughter. "It's been a long time since you invited me to one of your parties"

Octavius took Audrey's hand and dragged her laughing to one of the fires in the center, where they warmed their hands and they could watch people dance. A green-eyed boy soon spotted Octavius, and he approached amiably, carrying a basket of plates of food, and offered one to Audrey. She accepted it flushed, thanking him profusely, she had been eating dried pieces of meat for two days that did not fill her at all.

"Octavius, can I ask you something?" Audrey said as they ate with the strings of the instruments singing a sweet and nostalgic song. Octavius nodded "Why do you have this party every month?"

"Not every month, my dear, every full moon" Octavius replied with a smile "It is one of the traditions we inherit from the fairies"

"Oh" answered Audrey, looking at the campfires "But you can't see the moon, doesn't that affect you?"

"That doesn't matter, the moon is part of us," Octavius said, staring at the blurred ceiling with bright eyes from lost dreams "Even if we haven't felt its light in many years" Octavius's voice seemed to want to reach some ancient memory. Audrey took his hand, and smiled at him "Where I came from, this party is held outdoors, around a campfire so big that the smoke would stain this ceiling black, witches and warlocks wash in herbal baths to purify themselves, and then they dance under the moon to recharge their magic"

Audrey saw the trembling of longing in his eyes, and she breathed in the warm air of the party, trying to imagine the outside world, trying to imagine how it felt.

"Tell me about your home," she asked, with a small excited smile. Octavius smiled, fire reflected in his black eyes.

"In my home, the sun rises almost every day, and fills the earth with white and brilliant light, which is always green with life" he began with a deep voice. "There, the mountains grow so high that the clouds brush against them, and the cliffs are so big that they look like a giant made of mud and rock, whose feet bathe in the foam of the sea, immense and deep blue, which crashes against the shore and sweeps the sand. The temples and houses are so white they seem to glow in the sunlight, the walls are cool and damp, and woolen tapestries with stamps of good fortune hang above them. All cities are by the sea, where children learn to play on the waves and to pick up the smooth stones from the beach, which are soft and smooth for so many times being washed away by the sea "

  
“The sacred fires are always lit in the temples, to guide the lost ones home, they glow in the most beautiful colors thanks to the priestesses, who every day sprinkle minerals on the flames. There, the yellow-breasted birds sing all day long, they fly over the cities, and in the evening, they dance over the sky in huge flocks. Sometimes it rains, the sky is covered with gray clouds and the marble temples seem to glow when the drops, like crystalline jewels, fall on everything that can be seen in sight. The sea churns and churns, it rises as if it wanted to reach its lover, the moon, which is hidden among the heavy clouds ... "

  
Without realizing it, Audrey had closed her eyes, trying to savor each delicious word in her mouth, to treasure it in her heart. Octavius had moved closer to her, their shoulders now brushing, and he gently placed his hand on hers.  
"Why did you left?" Audrey asked on a sigh, slowly beginning to open her eyes.  
"I didn't" he replied in a whisper "They expelled me"  
"Why?"  
"I refused to be a soldier" he replied, looking down for a moment "We were at war, and we were called to fight, but I refused to die for a king who did not care about us" his gaze faded for a moment, but he forced himself to look up, looking proudly at his companions, who were dancing and laughing in the joy of the celebration. There were no blank castles, no elaborate tapestries, or great seas, just simple people.

"So after a while, I got here and found these people who are like me but have seen a much more complex world beyond the white houses, and the sea and colorful flames. It was then that I realized that the biggest mistake of my ancestors was their arrogance" his voice rose a little, more determined, and he looked at Audrey with a completely new sparkle in his eyes" These people, they are also my people, they are children of the moon as I am, but they learned to live differently. They only elected me chief because I know the old traditions. " Octavius smiled, the food had gotten cold on the plates "But enough about me, where are you from?"

Audrey pulled away a bit, with a nervous smile, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.  
"Actually ... I don't know" she replied softly, watching the flames of the fire dance "I lost my memories five years ago, before that, I don't know anything about myself" she tried to smile, but her lips fell instinctively. Her hands were shaking slightly. Octavius looked at her, surprised.

  
"Oh ... I had no idea, I'm very sorry" he apologized. Audrey shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned.  
" I try not to think about that," she said, with a small smile, taking a bite of food "I just ... you know ... I am worried that maybe ... someone is looking for me ... I just want to know if I'm somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's friend … You know?

  
A nervous laugh escaped her mouth.

Although she didn't want to admit it, a hole had settled in her stomach. The word family appeared in her mind. A part of her was gone, and she knew it, it burned inside like the scars of battles she didn't remember. All her emotions, all her joys, seemed to remind her of a non-extinct light as if at every moment someone's shadow was chasing her. She had loved once, and she wished she could remember it. From whom would she have inherited the golden skin that covered her? From whom would she have inherited the curiosity, the smile? Who had taught her to tie her shoes, to read, to write? Where did the burn scars around her neck and cheek come from? Where had she learned the exact color combination to paint a human face?  
Those were the traces of her previous life, the traces that before, she had been someone else. But now she was lost. Now she was just a lost child.

"I think that is too much sad story for today, don't you agree?" Audrey said shaking her head, smiling at Octavius with bright eyes. Octavius smiled back at him, the air still cheery and warm.

"By Shina, someone's going to hear us," Octavius whispered with a laugh, still clutching Audrey's neck with both hands. She laughed, just before kissing him enthusiastically again. Octavius stroked her hair, soft and slow. Audrey pushed him against the wall, pressing her body against his, smelling his scent of charcoal and leather. Her kisses were dreamy and soft, Octavius's sturdy arms held her slightly to the ground, and they both staggered in the ecstasy of the moment. They collided with a pair of wooden plates, which fell to the floor with a thud. Audrey pulled away for a moment, letting out a nervous laugh, and took off her red plush coat to make herself more comfortable. Octavius's caravan was too small.

Audrey hugged his body, feeling his warmth closely, stroking his head, burying her face in his black curls, as he kissed her cheeks gently. Still heard the sound of the party outside, laughter and songs, half-muffled by the wooden walls of the wagon and heavy curtains.  
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Outside, the cheerful voices and bells of the dancers no longer dominated. Something stopped in a collective sigh of concern. Audrey felt it, something had happened.

" Wait, do you hear that? ” She said suddenly. Octavius stopped, listening. The music no longer filled the air, and a pair of worried voices and annoying cheers began to fill the air. They separated. "They stopped singing"

  
Octavius's cheerful face changed, and his eyebrows wrinkled tense and concerned. They separated, and got out of the wagon as quickly as they could, the party had come to a standstill. In a moment of strange surprise, all the guests had been dumbfounded staring at the entrance to the alley. A figure appeared from the shadows.

  
Tall, muscular, in tattered clothes, he was dressed like the farmers of the Green Fields across the sea, in his white shirt, blue pants, and black suspenders. His shiny blond hair fell to his shoulders, tousled, dripping blood from an open wound on his head. He seemed disoriented, his eyes seemed to search for something in the crowd, determined, but not quite present, he covered the wound with one hand, but he did little, the blood dripped over half of his face. In his other hand, he was dragging a huge, rusty sword.

He was shivering, drenched in sweat, his feline eyes showed the weakness he felt, the enormous pain that the wound must have caused him.

  
Audrey watched him with a heavy heart, feeling that this was the only real moment of her life, and everything else had been a dream. Like a mirage, that her mind did not quite understand, but that something deeper within her had already recognized. The loneliness detached itself for a moment, for an instant, her soul shone and blossomed in an instant that elevated her to some beautiful place, a much more familiar one. The blond boy looked at her, and Audrey saw the whole world through his eyes.

  
He moved closer, shuffling, and Audrey didn't dare move, the witches were looking at them. Time seemed to have stopped.

  
"Audrey ..." the boy whispered, immediately smiling, shedding heavy tears of happiness. Audrey took a step toward him, shocked.

  
"You ... you know me, don't you?" she said carefully, looking into the stellar eyes of the newcomer.

  
"Yes ..." he replied, approaching a little more, his eyes were closed with weakness "Don't you remember me, princess ...?"

  
The boy fell to the ground, passed out by the seriousness of his injury, stamping himself in the dust of the small square, with a collective scandalized sigh from the crowd.

Audrey heard her heartbeat, raise and raise as the boy began to form a blood puddle around him, every thought and memory, blinded her, shook her, all the sounds died suddenly. She ran towards the blond boy, dropping next to her, holding his head through tears.

  
"Please open your eyes" she begged, trying to cover the wound with her hands "I remember you, Gil, I remember you ..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are you guys?  
> Do you want Huma on the next chapter?  
> Mmmmm... I can already smell it in the air...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying, I´ll do my best to post the next chapter very soon.


End file.
